I played Hohokum a long time ago, way back at the E3 before the last E3. I remember being enthused, but confused. I wasn’t really sure what the hell I was supposed to be doing, but that was kind of the point.
Now, due to everyday life woes (moving house, fixing up new house… urgh) I haven’t had too much time to spend with Hohokum. I literally don’t even have my consoles set up yet, but I remain keen to play more. I don’t think I necessarily want to understand Hohukum, or try and ‘get it’, more like I just want to experience it a little bit more, mess around with the systems, prod at it.
These sort of games as exploration, or games as ‘toys’, tend to be a little hit or miss with me. I really enjoyed Proteus for example, but Noby Noby Boy completely left me cold. Hohokum seems to sit somewhere between those two in that it is a game without rules. It is a game that strips back objectives and simply exists. You have your own fun within its confines.
To those of you out there that have spent time with it: what are your thoughts? Have you found it interesting, engaging, difficult? How would you describe Hohokum? How does one decide whether or not it has value!?
DEEP QUESTIONS.
Comments
8 responses to “Community Review: Hohokum”
The $20 price tag and 1.8gb download is putting me off. Looks like a very short-lived experience to me.
Mental memo to get this tonight…I love games where there’s no pressure to actually “do” anything…
Oh good, and then you can tell me how it is. I’ve been refreshing all day to nothing but crickets!
Popular game…. Silence is the review.
Ok, so I’ve had the chance to play for an hour or so on Vita. Got to say, pretty much knew nothing about this game aside from the name and the screenshots, and some vague descriptions on how it played. I half expected something like locoroco, or noby noby boy, (the former of which I loved) like cutesy and weird and charming, but this was just from the screenshots and name.
Turned out to be way different to what I expected. To do the whole cliched “comparison to other games” thing, I would liken it to something with the weird, fantastical world of Loco Roco, the toy like quality of Noby Noby boy, but a sort of atmosphere that reminds me thats a cross between something from thatgamecompany (probably more flow than Journey though). The music really stands out though, each section has its own little ambient track that sometimes grows or changes as you progress through the little puzzles(?).
I LOVE the art style. I thought from the few screenshots I saw it was gonna be like japan-like cute vector style, but actually in play its felt more like designer illustration a la JamFactory or Meowmi or something along those lines. The music too, is very relaxing, and really complements the visuals.
I feel like the gameplay though is whatever you want to make of it. I’m the kind of person who would just fly around aimlessly not completing any objectives, but theres a good amount of puzzles to keep more focused players occupied. I really like all the fun little distractions like in the beginning section theres a bit where you are followed by a bunch of other flying snakes and you can create some kaleidoscope like patterns by flying around. Has no point really except to amuse.
but yeah, on the whole, I do like this game. I don’t quite think I love it, but its quite amusing so far, maybe i’ll grow to love it more with more play.
Sounds pretty interesting! Thanks for the response, I really appreciate your description.
I’ve been enjoying it, the music is catchy and it’s really stylish. It’s fun to explore the large areas exploring and finding out what interacts with what, the game never tells you what to do so it’s very much for those who want an experience more than a usual game. My only real frustration is that the navigation between areas can be too unclear as portals between areas can look and looking for new areas can feel clunky
Played it for about 20 minutes so far before life got in the way but enjoyed it. I noticed straight away the soundtrack is exceptional, would be a perfect vita game. Not really sure if there’s any goals or endgame but seems relaxing and a game anyone can play and zone out to
It’s cross buy so go download on that vita baby
Been really enjoying it, scenery and soundtrack are excellent. Having a lot of fun just exploring at my own pace and finding all the hidden bits and pieces. I’ve put a few hours in so far and still haven’t made my way through all the levels and things to do.